The present invention relates to a connector for mounting to a printed circuit board and especially to a connector having contacts for soldering to the surface of the board.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,618 discloses a connector comprising a housing and a plurality of electrical contacts, the housing having a mating face, an opposed rear face, a mounting face perpendicular to the mating face and the rear face, and a plurality of contact receiving passages between the mating face and the rear face. Each contact has a mating portion, a solder tail substantially perpendicular thereto, and a bend therebetween, the mating portion being received in respective passage from the rear face, the solder tails being received in the rear face generally parallel thereto. The solder tails are received in channels in the rear face and extend beyond the mounting face for reception in plated through holes of a circuit board.
Recently, in the interests of facilitating automated placement and economy of circuit board manufactured, "surface mount" connectors have been developed. However, adapting a connector as described above by simply truncating the solder tails proximate the mounting face would present several problems. The solder tails must have a precise centerline spacing but should not be constrained against lateral movement relative to the housing, since different thermal expansion rates of the housing and the board could result in severe stressing of the solder joints if so constrained. Further, the solder tails should be axially compliant to accommodate for circuit board warpage.